An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Thunderwave Tempest was a third-tier lightning-element grand formation! Min Longyu had developed this formation through years of reflection and refinement. It was a culmination of his hard-earned experience and insights. And unlike traditional formations, which were static and rigid, this one was dynamic and alive.

As its name suggested, once activated, it erupted like a raging thunderstorm. Violent arcs would tear through the air in relentless waves, devastating everything within reach. Even a Golden Core Adept would have to avoid its range. Anyone caught at its center could easily be reduced to ashes.

However, the conditions required to set up this formation were extremely demanding. It needed a formation disc of enchanted-treasure grade as its core and a broad foundation of lightning-element materials. It also had to store an immense amount of lightning energy beforehand. That energy would serve as a trigger to attract a torrent of explosive lightning. Moreover, for the formation to display its full strength, the surrounding environment needed to be saturated with natural lightning. Without that condition, its power would hardly surpass that of an ordinary second-tier offensive formation.

Rather than calling it a third-tier offensive formation, it was more accurate to describe Thunderwave Tempest as a lightning-channeling formation. Unlike the refined and gentle lightning-channeling methods used by the major sects to nourish spirit wood or various minerals, this formation summoned an overwhelming flood of lightning, meant not to nurture but to destroy.

Luo Chen did not delay. The moment he reached the newly assigned outpost, he began working in an isolated grove of Thunderstruck Trees. He took out the Wandering Eighteen-Formation Disc and placed the formation flags one by one. Each flag carried intricate elemental inscriptions, and he arranged them precisely according to the principles of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams. Around the grove, he laid down the materials that Min Longyu had instructed him to use, including Red Lightning Iron, Firefly Powder, and Thunderstruck Wood.

His actions drew many curious glances from the Luo Tian Society cultivators. Yet once they realized that their President was setting up a formation, none dared to disturb him. They correctly assumed it was another of Min Longyu’s strategic preparations; what actually surprised them was how naturally Luo Chen worked. His movements were smooth, effortless, and precise. It looked as though he had been practicing formation arts for years.

After he placed the final flag, he took out a bundle of mid-grade spirit stones and inserted exactly one hundred of them into a groove he had carved—a crude Lightning-Channeling Platform.

When the last stone clicked into place, he stepped back to inspect the formation.

Everything had gone smoothly. To his surprise, he had encountered no obstacles while setting up a formation of such a high tier. Faint threads of lightning began to drift toward the Wandering Eighteen-Formation Disc at the center. Luo Chen rubbed his chin as he studied the flow of energy.

He thought to himself, Perhaps this formation is simpler than I expected.

Although classified as a third-tier formation, its true power depended entirely on the environment rather than on the intricacy of its structure.

The longer it runs, the more lightning power it stores. The stronger the channel becomes, the greater the lightning it can summon. All I need to do is keep the spirit stones fresh and let them accumulate power.

Luo Chen let out a slow breath of relief. When he looked around, he saw Duan Feng already assigning sentries and organizing patrol routes to secure the perimeter.

For the foreseeable future, this small patch of wilderness would be their home. Still, it was unlikely to see much action. The frontlines were far ahead, and there were plenty of forces standing between them and the enemy.

***

Just as Luo Chen had expected, life on the sixth mountain was perilous and intense for most vassal forces. However, for the Luo Tian Society, it remained remarkably calm.

Over the following month, reports of battle arrived almost daily. Skirmishes broke out endlessly along the front lines as the Sword Sect alliance launched one assault after another. The ferocity of these clashes rivaled even the brutal battle that had brought down the seventh mountain.

Everyone knew the stakes. If the sixth mountain fell, only the fifth would remain. Once that happened, the Falling Cloud Sect would be left with no way to turn the tide. Thus, the Four-Sect Alliance fought with desperate resolve. Every clash was a blood-soaked defense, each victory was purchased at a terrible cost. Countless cultivators perished, yet many of those who survived achieved sudden fame.

Dao titles began spreading across the battlefield; people like Lei Zhenzi became emblems of valor. Compliments flowed freely among allies, each praising the other in a cycle of mutual flattery. Yet these battlefield-earned Dao titles came as quickly as they faded. Even setting aside the risk of death, there was no guarantee the name would be remembered afterward.

Luo Chen had once gone to observe one of the large-scale battles himself. At the time, spirit energy poured like rain, while sword-light crisscrossed the sky in radiant nets. All manner of enchanted artifacts, enchanted treasures, talismans, and spells clashed and exploded across the field. Initiates led the charge, some darting with enchanted artifacts, others preparing powerful attacks from their enchanted treasures. Even the large numbers of seemingly insignificant Qi Refinement cultivators displayed unexpected ferocity.

Under the command of True Inheritor disciples from the four sects, these low-tier cultivators unleashed coordinated spell formations that filled the battlefield with destruction. Individually, they posed little threat, but in large numbers, their combined power could even overwhelm Initiates.

Just as Green Pill Valley’s Adept had once said, the cultivation world had grown unbalanced. Everyone favored offense over defense. Offensive treasures were everywhere, while exceptional defensive ones had become rare. Even supreme-grade defensive artifacts were few and far-between.

In such a climate, Initiates might have appeared powerful, yet they were far from invincible. They were surrounded and outnumbered, even they could be torn apart by swarms of low-tier cultivators.

Compared to the bloodshed suffered by other vassal forces, the Luo Tian Society’s cultivators lived in relative peace.

Aside from one support mission initiated by Tantai Jin, they had scarcely engaged in combat. This relative inactivity had begun to wear on some of the younger Qi Refinement cultivators, especially those eager to prove themselves on the battlefield. But Luo Chen, Duan Feng, and Xu Haizhen hoped this peace would last until the war’s end.

As for the merit points? No amount of merit points could compare to staying alive. Unless the Four-Sect Alliance opened a clear path for them to ascend to greater heights, surviving this war unscathed would be the best possible outcome.

Perhaps the only thing people had trouble adjusting to was how sparse the spirit energy was in the Jilei Nine Mountains. It simply wasn’t suitable for them to cultivate in. In truth, the issue was not a lack of spirit energy but rather the absence of spirit energy for the Five Elements—fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Instead, the entire region was thick with lightning-element spirit energy. Unless one had a lightning spirit root, it was impossible to cultivate here.

Even cultivators with lightning spirit roots wouldn’t dare to recklessly absorb this power. It was not only extremely potent, but also far too chaotic, and it would require a long time to refine and absorb.

Still, being unable to cultivate qi didn’t mean one couldn’t practice other things. For the past month, Luo Chen had never once ceased his efforts—specifically, using Earth Fire Fiend Qi to open his acupoints. Across just a single month, he had opened more than fifty new ones. In fact, once he’d caught the trick to it, he reached the point of breaking open two per day. At such speed, even Wang Yuan would’ve been left speechless.

Yet Luo Chen was not surprised. Aperture Opening was fundamentally different from the other stages of the Blood River Realm. Organ Refinement demanded steady, accumulated effort to slowly forge the five organs and nourish internal energies. On the other hand, Meridian Unblocking required dramatic bursts, like a surging river forcefully carving its way through narrow channels. Meanwhile, Aperture Opening was all about finesse!

Compared to organs and meridians, the acupoints were far more fragile. A single misstep during the process could easily lead to internal injury. It was like threading a needle: one needed keen eyes, steady hands, and flawless control.

Fortunately, Luo Chen excelled in all of these. His vision was exceptionally sharp, bolstered by an exceptionally deep divine soul foundation, so profound it far surpassed even Wang Yuan’s. As for controlling fiend qi, he had become a master out of necessity. After refining thousands upon thousands of Blood-Burning Pills, he had grown intimately familiar with Earth Fire Fiend Qi, and he was now able to manipulate it with ease. The only difference now was that he was working with a high-tier version of what he already knew. Once he adjusted to its potency, his progress naturally accelerated.

Perhaps, once I find Wang Yuan, I can pass on my Aperture Opening method to help him speed up his Physique Refinement progress, Luo Chen thought. But then again, he’s far ahead of me in Physique Refinement. For all I know, he may have already opened all 720 acupoints, and both his minor and major channels of energy circulation are entirely unimpeded.

Luo Chen chuckled and shook his head at the thought, then took out another chunk of floating rock. He was just about to extract its Earth Fire Fiend Qi when he froze.

It’s all used up!

A sigh escaped his lips as realization set in. He had thought that over a hundred portions of Earth Fire Fiend Qi would last for a good while. Yet using three strands at once to brute-force open each acupoint had burned through his supply far faster than expected. It was wasteful, but without fiend qi, he could not continue opening his apertures.

He couldn’t afford to let his time on the sixth mountain go to waste. Practicing spells was not an option either; Luo Chen had already reached Perfected Mastery for nearly all of his spells. As for the few newer spells he had picked up, only Ninety Thousand Li was of real use, and unfortunately, he was already on the verge of the Grandmaster level. It wasn’t suitable for open practice in public.